


Cloak of Mercy

by Cyanne



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M, Yuletide 2006
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-04
Updated: 2011-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-21 00:58:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyanne/pseuds/Cyanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam leaps into an unconventional prisoner and struggles to save his companion as he tries to  remember his relationship with Al.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cloak of Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Tayawulf for the plot idea that saved this fic.

"Oh boy," Sam whispered softly. He wasn't sure when the phrase had become routine, a good luck charm of sorts to start off each leap. He'd long ago stopped wondering how he always knew those words, even when he was completely lost about everything else, including his own identity.

He cautiously opened his eyes as the post leap vertigo faded and took in his surroundings-- the heavy humidity, the heat, the barely there taste of something bitter in the air, the wooden posts driven into the ground that construed the primitive, but highly effective, cage he was currently trapped in.

His black skinned arms automatically tightened their protective embrace around the lightly tanned man he was holding. Both he and his companion were wearing green camouflage uniforms.

Sam's borrowed body made him aware of his current state of discomfort, reporting hunger, thirst, fatigue, the persistent itch of old mosquito bites. The man he held had been wounded, dried blood covered his leg.

"Not again," he thought as he carefully shifted the heavy weight in his lap," there should be a one war per leaper rule." He couldn't deal with Vietnam again, he'd already survived one stint as a soldier and had absolutely no desire to repeat the experience. He hated the war, hated what it had done to Al, hated everything the conflict had taken from his friend.

A few random memories flooded back and he clung to the name, "Al." He wondered where his friend was, even as he wondered why the word friend didn’t feel quite right—it didn’t encompass enough of what they were to each other.

Bright light danced in the corner of the makeshift prison cell as a man in shiny red and yellow clothing appeared.

"Oh, Sammy, what did you get yourself into this time?"

"Al?"

"Very much in the flesh," he affirmed, taking the unlit cigar from his month and giving a slight bow.

"Tell me we're not in Vietnam," he asked, desperation in his voice.

"Nope," Al replied, reading off his handheld display, "Zacapa, Guatemala, and it's ... come on, you..." Shaking the device, he continued, "that's better... October 16th, 1992."

"What's with the uniforms?"

"Beats me," Al replied, waving a hand in the general direction of Sam and his companion, "not my favorite look on you."

"Not my favorite look on me either," Sam said dryly. "Now tell me we're not rebels," he said, glancing down at the man sleeping in his arms. Not so comfortably by the small sounds of pain he was making, and Sam wasn't sure he wanted to see the damage beneath the makeshift bandage wrapped around the other man's left leg.

"You've never rebelled a day in your life," Al teased. "Unlike yours truly. I should have a degree in rebellion."

"Al," Sam said warningly.

"You're no fun. Okay, what've we got. You," he said, pointing to Sam, "are 20 year old Ray Schaefer and he is 21 year old Andy Eaves. The two of you are civilians, working with the Mercy Corps." In a slightly softer tone he said, "You're the good guys." There was a trace of something in Al's voice that Sam couldn't quite place.

"Most soldiers are too, Al, you know that."

"Yeah," came the grudging agreement from Al, although he still wouldn't meet Sam's eyes. Sam couldn't help wondering again what they were to each other. Why had he expected the other man to appear in the first place?

"So we're in Guatemala..."

"Working on rebuilding a village that was damaged in a mudslide last year. You've been here for 11 months, Andy's been here for 10. You both signed up for a year, but Ray was going to stay an extra month so they could go home together."

"Were they lovers?"

"They never had the chance. You, I mean Ray wanted to, but Andy," Al indicated the unconscious man in Sam's arms, "wanted to wait until they got home. Ray wasn't thrilled but he agreed."

Sam couldn't help himself and he leaned down to kiss forehead of the man he was holding, moving his hand to feel the other man's steady heartbeat. Stricken by a sudden insight, he asked the question before he had time to be scared of the answer. "Were we lovers?"

"I can't tell you that." Sam could not discern the true answer from Al's mild words. He was certain he had once he had known this man well enough to read between the lines, but so much of himself had been lost over the years of leaping that was no longer sure of anything. But he instinctively pressed on.

"How many times have I forgotten you?"

"You know I can't tell you that."

"I don't always remember, do I?"

"I can't tell you that either." Al answered wearily but with infinite patience.

Sam wanted to get up and pace, to wave his arms around, to reach out across the void. He wanted more than anything to touch the man standing across the cage... across time itself apart from him. So he said the only thing he knew with any certainty.

"Love you."

The shy smile on Al's face was answer enough. "You're still you, Sam, even underneath all that Swiss cheese." Clearing his throat, he went back to the situation at hand. "You're from New York City and Andy's from Philadelphia. At least they'll be close by when they get back to the States. Beats doing the long distance thing from across the country."

 _Or across time,_  Sam thought, but there was no point to saying it. He knew his friend was thinking the same thing anyway. They had the ultimate long distance relationship

"At least somebody gets to go home," Sam said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He was so tired of it all.

"We're working on it Sam, I promise you. Not about to give up now. Best minds the government's money can buy."

Unwilling to be distracted, he asked, "How long has it been?"

"Don't ask me any more questions I can't answer," Al pleaded softly.

"I never meant to break your heart, Al."

"Goes both ways, love, it goes both ways" was Al's gentle response and Sam knew that he would not know the truth behind that hurt until and unless he did find his way back home.

There was a long but not uncomfortable silence. After a while, Al glanced down at his handheld and told Sam, "Um, the group that has you, it's not the URNG. This is an amateur group, crime of opportunity so to speak."

"I don't like this. Being captured by people who don't know what they're doing is more dangerous then dealing with pros."

"Got that right, Sam. They have no idea what to do with you guys."

"Whass happening," a groggy voice asked and Sam felt Andy stir in his arms. Beautiful green-brown eyes looked up at him with concern. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Sam answered, tightening his grip to hug the other man closer. "How're you doing?"

"Hanging in there. Leg still hurts."

"I’m not surprised. Want to sit up?" They shifted around so they were sitting pretty much side by side against one of the cage walls.

"We're still here, huh? I was hoping it was just a particularly detailed nightmare," Andy remarked.

"I'm afraid so. Seems they lost our hotel reservations."

"Wouldn't that be something, you and me? I'd give a lot for one night in a real bed with you."

"Something to look forward to when we get home," Sam promised in Ray's stead. Somehow he didn't think the absent man would object.

From his perch in the corner Al told him, "Looks like the Mercy Corps directors called in the US Army. Ziggy says they'll be here in a few days. All you have to do is hold on and keep your friend there alive."

"Easy for you to say," Sam muttered under his breath. Andy had dozed off again beside him but he started slightly. "Huh."

"Nothing important. Go back to sleep."

"The guy in the waiting room is no help. I'll go check on him again but he was pretty much catatonic. Some people just don't deal with having their brains scrambled. I wonder why," Al said shaking his head. "See you soon, okay." The holographic door opened and he disappeared. It seemed to Sam that all the light went with him.

They settled in to wait out the night together.

\--------------------------------------

"Okay, the timeline has the potential to branch several ways from here. Ziggy's still trying to figure out which one is correct one. Obviously we want the one where you both live."

"Obviously, " Sam agreed.

"There's a small chance you both die here, that's if the Army doesn't get here in time. Can't see any way you can affect that. "

"I can live with that."

I'm not so sure I can." Al said slowly. "We still don't know what that means for you... if your host body dies. I don't want to find out."

"What if it sends me home?" Sam asked. At the stricken look on Al's face he quickly added, "I've said that before, haven't I? I'm sorry."

"Every time it comes up, " Al answered tiredly. "And no, I shouldn't have told you that." He leaned against an invisible wall, his body at an unnatural angle to the ground.

"Do you have any idea know how weird it is when you do that?"

"Yeah, I know," Al told him, a teasing lilt to his voice. "And you just love it when I do this." He reached a hand through the imaging chamber door, groped around with an arm that appeared to be cut off halfway and came back with a bottle of beer.

Sam couldn't help the shudder that passed through him. Al just laughed.

"That never stops being creepy."

"I could make other things disappear," Al offered, waving a hand at his zipper.

"They still have the security cameras in the lab?"

"Why is it that you never manage to forget about that," Al asked as he took a deep swig from the bottle.

The restless motion of the man in his arms brought Sam back to his current reality. "Shh, shh, I’m here, it's all right," he soothed, even as he feared his words were a lie. Looking up at Al, he asked "I'm a doctor right, I mean a medical doctor? I can fix this? There has to be something to work with?"

"Not all that much here, Sam," Al said, waving his hand around. "You've still got your shirt, you can use that as a clean bandage. I don't think Ray would mind the sunburn if it meant helping his friend."

"You just want to see me with my shirt off," Sam accused without rancor.

"Always." Al leered, but quickly got back to business. "No food, half a bowl of water, that's about it."

"Going to have to use the water to clean his wound out, if infection sets in he's done for. Somehow I don't think Ray would fare too well either if that happened."

"No, in the original history, Andy dies and Ray gets rescued the day after tomorrow. Ray goes to see Andy's parents, well, let's just say that doesn't go over too well. Along with the grief over losing their son, they didn’t know he was gay and they took it out on Ray."

"Not going to happen this time," Sam vowed. Leaning down toward Andy he said, "I'm going to have to put you down for a minute." At the other man's wordless protest, he quickly reassured him, "I'm not going anywhere, just need to check you over." He carefully helped Andy lay on the ground and stripped his shirt off.

"Mmm, nice view," Andy said. Al smiled in agreement.

"Glad you approve, but that's all you're getting for now, " Sam said to both men. "Let me take a look at your leg."

"What, you're a doctor now?"

"I picked up a few things from the guys at camp," Sam answered quickly, figuring there had to be some medical personnel among the relief workers.

"Alica Jimenez is one of the Corps' doctors on site, " Al prompted.

Throwing him a grateful glance, Sam said, "I got Alica to show me a few things." Andy laughed weakly. "Not those kinds of things, that's what I've got you for."

"Got that right. Ow..."

"Sorry."

"S'okay? How bad is it."

"Just a graze. I don’t know what you're complaining about." Sam had the feeling the two men teased each other often. Andy's response proved him right.

"Give me a minute and I'll race you back to camp."

"You're on."

The cut in his leg was narrow but very deep, a bullet had grazed him but thankfully had not gotten embedded in the flesh. This was no place to be conducting meatball surgery. From what Al had told him, they'd been tossed in the cage five days ago and last given food and water three days ago. When the wind was right, Sam could hear their captors arguing at their campsite nearby. There seemed to be at least 10 people. Sam finally gave up trying to sort it out, as he had observed earlier, it obvious they didn’t know what they were doing. He just hoped he and Andy didn’t die due to neglect.

"Cavalry's gonna come and get us, take us home, I promise."

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Somehow I don't think the horses are going to make it."

"Infantry, then. Remember, they told us that at boot camp before we left, US military's got a base in the area, anything happens to us and they’ll come looking. Just gotta hang on a little while longer." Sam was talking as much to reassure himself as Andy. He hoped it was helping the other man more than it was himself.

Andy felt hot to the touch. Sam prayed it wasn’t a fever, that his body wasn't infected. He tried to convince himself that it was just the jungle heat.

"You have to let me use some of the water. You're burning up," Sam exaggerated, hoping to get the other man to agree even if he had to scare him a bit to get him to cooperate.

"Told you I was hot."

"With fever, dummy," teasing, but with a slight edge. "I have to wash out that gash, infection's going to set in."

"How much we got left?"

"Enough."

"Liar. We're down to half a bowl of water and we're not going to get any more. It's been days."

"We got enough, " Sam insisted. "Besides, it's gonna rain." He'd gone out on a limb on that one, but the fact that Al was nodding was encouraging.

"You're right Sam, late tonight a front's going to sweep through."

"How can you tell, it ain't rained in two weeks," Andy protested.

"Trust me on this, I can feel it."

"Uh, huh."

"Trust me."

"You know I do. Just, drink a little first, okay."

Touched by the concern, he took a few sips and held the bowl so Andy could do the same. He then used the rest to clean out the wound as best he could and rebound it tightly with strips from his shirt

By the time he was finished they were both exhausted. Sam arranged them so he was lying down with Andy once again in his arms. Hopefully this would be over soon. This leap wasn't as physically intense as some others had been but the waiting and the worrying took its toll. He tried not to think about Al and how that was all the other man could do from his location in the future.

\-------------

There was something about lying together in the dark that made the difficult conversations easier. And it wasn't as if they had anything else to do. Sam was pretty sure that he was there to save Andy's life, but he had a feeling there was a secondary reason. If the two men survived, they were probably supposed to be together. He had to admit, the matchmaking parts of his leaps were usually fun.

"I know you think we're going to get home and I'm going to leave you," he told Andy, wondering what the response would be.

"From what you've told me, I think you're family's going to disown you and I'm not worth that."

"Yes you are. You are. Besides, I was well on my way to being cut off anyway. They weren't too thrilled when I told them I was leaving the country for a year. I'm not sure what I'm going back to, except that you're coming with me. Wherever it is that we wind up."

"I've been wanting you to hold me, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

"I know, me either. Still looking forward to that hotel room."

"Are you sure you still want to wait until we get home?" Sam felt like he was pushing it a bit, but he also felt like he was on the right track. If it brought Andy some measure of comfort, it was worth it, and if he was closing his eyes and imagining it was Al in his arms, well there wasn't any harm in that either.

"I'm not in any condition to do much of anything."

Sam took another gamble. "I haven't even kissed you yet."

"Yes, you did, 'member? Three weeks ago out behind the mess tent?"

Whoops, blew that one. He'd had much practice at improvising though and stuck with his instincts. It just didn’t feel like the body he was currently inhabiting knew the one in his arms intimately. Not yet anyway, although the longing was there. "That was too quick, it hardly counts."

"You're right about that," Andy agreed. "Although I thought Maria was going to have a heart attack when she saw us. Wonder if she's still got that crush on you?"

Sam knew when he was being teased and responded in kind. "She's barking up the wrong tree with that one, beside I'm pretty sure she's moved on to Juan. We're going to catch them behind the mess tent one of these days."

Sam realized that Andy had fallen asleep again and was dozing himself when the other man spoke. "I'm really ready to go home now."

"We still have to figure out where that is."

"New York and Philly aren't that far away. I could live in Philly."

"Thought you kept telling me there ain't no place on Earth like the Big Apple."

"That was before I really got to know you, you're the one who's been making me hungry talking about Philly cheesesteaks." Sam was still going with his gut but it felt right.

"Yeah, wanna take you to an Eagles game and we have to run up the stairs like Rocky."

"Promise," Sam whispered.

Still holding tight to each other, both men fell into an uneasy sleep.

An hour later, the rain began to fall.

The leaves covering their makeshift cage protected them from the worst of the storm. The battered metal bowl their captured had left was filled to the brim and Sam managed to catch some more in the larger of the tropical leaves.

"See, plenty of water."

"Yeah, yeah, you're psychic. When we get home, gonna get you to pick us some lottery numbers."

"Let me take a look at that leg again, okay." Trying his best to jostle Andy as little as possible, Sam quickly cleaned and rewrapped the wound. He was happy to see that there were no signs of infection. "Think you're gonna live, my friend," he said, forcing himself to make the words a joke. It helped that the odds were much better than when he'd lept in the day before, and if Al was right, they'd be getting out of here very soon.

Standing guard as always, Al filled in the rest. "The kid was partially right, except both their families disown them." Sam frowned and opened his mouth to protest, as if anything he could say would make a difference. "It's all right, well as all right as it can be, considering. They stay together, wind up moving out to Cascade, Washington and starting an environmental group."

Suddenly, the lights on his handheld starting flashing in wild patterns.

"Do I even want to know what that means?"

"Means you're done here, kid. Andy's going to be fine, and the army is about 2 klicks out and closing fast. Time to say goodbye."

Sam quickly mouthed the words, "Love you Al" to his friend, and leaned down toward Andy. As their lips touched he felt the leap claim him and take him apart cell by cell. He hoped, as he always did, that this would be the leap that finally took him home to Al.

 


End file.
